The Belgian Browning Pistols:  1889-1949 by Anthony Vanderlinden Wet Dog Publications, 2001, hardcover 249 pages ISBN 0-9707997-0-5 $54.95

The book relates the history not only of the firearms, but also of the personalities and the organizations involved.   Mr. Vanderlinden provides a surprisingly detailed history of Fabrique Nationale and an excellent short biography of John Browning.  Both are written with a flair for detail and a high degree of intimacy. The  reader is invited into the FN boardroom as deals are struck and plans to cope with two German invasions formulated and executed.  Similarly, the reader is brought into the Brownings' living room and work shop for a candid, "fly on the wall" view of John Browning's life as he matured from a young gunsmith to the man known by FN employees as "the Master."  Additionally, this is the first work to give more than a passing reference to Dieudonne Saive, the man who worked intimately with John Browning on several of his pistol designs and perfected the Grande Puissance (High Power) after Browning's death in 1926.  Indeed, while there are many books that reference the guns, Belgian Browning Pistols is the first publication to offer a comprehensive, behind the scenes look at the motive forces behind the FN - Browning alliance that led to the design, development, and production of these historic guns.

The book's organization traces a path that is both logical and intuitive, first setting a historical foundation  and then building incrementally. The broad historical outline is followed by an introduction to the key players.  This in turn is followed by a close look at the various proofs and markings pertinent to FN - Browning pistols.  Only when the reader is thus adequately prepared is he brought into the book's "holy of holies," that is, the exposition of each of the Belgian Brownings produced between 1889 and 1949.  Each of the pistols is explored in depth, and the text is richly supported with photographs and other illustrations.  The pistols are introduced in chronological order, with the following guns being covered:

• Model 1899
• Model 1900
• Model 1903
• Model 1907, Husqvarna manufacture
• The Grand Browning
• Model 1910
• Model 1922
• The Grande Rendement
• High Power

• Model 1922:  Modification turns into world success
• The Many Yugoslavian Orders
• The Many Dutch Variations
• The Many Dutch Variations:  Pistool M25 No. 1 (7.65mm)
• The Many Dutch Variations:  Pistool M25 No. 2 and M25 (9mm Short)
• The FN 1922 Pistol for Greece
• Turkish Contracts
• The Romanian Contract
• The Prewar French Navy Contract
• The FN 1922 for the Danish Police
• The Nazi Procured and Produced 1922 Models
• WaA613 Accepted Pistols
• WaA103 Accepted Pistols
• WaA140 Accepted Pistols and Wartime Commercial Models
• The immediate Post-liberation "A" Prefix Pistols:  French Contracts and Other Sales
• Postwar French and German Purchases

With reference to the Imperial Russian purchase of the Model 1903:

There is a difference in the shoulder-stocks used among the Russian contracts.  The Moscow Police pistols and the presentation pistols both had standard FN Shouler-stocks.  The first 4000 gendarmerie pistols were ordered with a special shoulder-stock and slot, often referred to as a short slot/stock.  The shoulder-stock connecting lug had no securing lock for the pistol, the shoulder stock hinge has only two sets of screws as well as a small lanyard stud.  Only Russian pistols in the 15,000 to 20,000 serial range have the short slot and were issued with the special short stock.  The slot on the frame of these pistols only extends to 90% of the frame's length.  Pistols after serial number 20,000 have the basic FN slot for the standard stock.  It is believed that the short stock was specially ordered for mounted gendarmerie who could only use one hand to connect or disconnect the shoulder stock.

A small quantity of FN Browning 1910 pistols were used by Japanese Officers before and during World War II.  All pistols were ordered prior to 1940 by Schroeder, one of FN's largest distributors in Liege.  Schroeder handled commercial sales but was also handling all sorts of military contracts.  Like many distributors of the day, Schroeder pursued various governmental orders.  It is not known if the pistols were ordered directly by the Japanese military or by a Japanese retailer who was dealing with the military.  All pistols shipped from FN were in the 450,000 serial range (and up).  These can be identified by a single Japanese character stamped on the barrel or frame.  Some pistols were not stamped and today can only be identified by the distinct Japanese holsters.  Pistols were shipped to Schroeder on December 31, 1939.  Schroeder immediately forwarded the order to a location in the city of Matsuhara in Japan.  Matsuhara was the destination of the merchandise and not a Japanese distributor.  It should be noted that relatively few of the pistols in the 450,000 - 495,000 serial range went to Japan and not all.

If the book has any foibles, they are in the category of proofreading and editing.  Scattered throughout the book are a few grammatical and spelling errors.  These mistakes are but a tiny mote on an otherwise sterling work, and take nothing away from the book's content and historical impact.  Additionally, we would have liked to have seen a brief discussion of the operating mechanism of each pistol in the introductory paragraphs covering that particular gun.  It should be stressed that these are mere suggestions for improvements on an already excellent work.

John Browning, and the pistols produced from his designs by Fabrique Nationale not only revolutionized the  expectations for handguns around the world, but set standards that are still the baseline for modern self loading pistol development today.  Indeed, to this day the word "Browning" indicates a self loading pistol in Europe.  Despite this, until the publication of The Belgian Browning Pistols, there has been no single comprehensive work of scholarship on the topic that collectors and historians could turn to.  In filling this void, and providing the results of years of painstaking research on a topic seminal to firearms collectors and historians, Mr. Vanderlinden has done the community an inestimable service.  If you are a collector of FN pistols, or just happen to have one in your collection, this is a volume you cannot afford to be without.  Similarly, no library of firearms history should be without this volume.
 

The Belgian Browning Pistols: 1889 - 1949 is available from Wet Dog Publications, 5603-B West Friendly Ave. Suite 166, Greensboro, North Carolina 27410, Phone: 336-275-0405, or fax 336-275-4375.  Mention CRUFFLER.COM when you order, and you will receive a copy autographed by the author.  Click on the image to order:

 
 

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